This invention relates generally to a capsule dispensing apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a gel-cap dispensing apparatus with refrigeration for cooling the gel-caps.
Gel-caps have become increasingly popular in today's marketplace, and especially in the pharmaceutical and nutritional supplement industries. Nevertheless, the potential of gel-caps has not been fully recognized because a convenient way to store and dispense refrigerated gel-caps has been absent. A refrigerated gel-cap dispenser that is convenient to use would open the door for gel-caps to be used for coffee cream and numerous other applications.
Various proposals for pill and capsule dispensers are found in the art, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,610,466; 4,150,766; 4,611,727; 4,782,980; and 5,791,515. While assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices do not provide a user-friendly gel-cap dispenser with refrigeration. For the reasons discussed above, refrigeration would be advantageous. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a user-friendly gel-cap dispensing apparatus with refrigeration.
A capsule dispensing apparatus according to the present invention includes an elongate tube for containing a plurality of capsules and a housing remote from the elongate tube. The elongate tube may be coupled to the housing, and a dispensing arm connected to the housing may control the release of the capsules from the elongate tube. The dispensing arm is preferably a solenoid plunger having an end encircled by a solenoid coil, and the solenoid coil is electrically connected to a power supply and a button for moving the solenoid plunger from an extended (first) configuration to a seated (second) configuration. The movement of the solenoid plunger to the seated configuration allows a capsule to fall, and thus be dispensed. A refrigeration unit has a cooling coil mounted in an interior space defined by the housing and a heat dissipation coil mounted outside the housing interior space for cooperatively maintaining the capsules at a consistent chosen temperature, and a counter/alarm system provide notice that a certain number of capsules have been dispensed.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a capsule dispensing apparatus that is refrigerated.
Another object of this invention is to provide a capsule dispensing apparatus, as aforesaid, that may be used in a variety of settings, including restaurants.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a capsule dispensing apparatus, as aforesaid, that may be easily and quickly refilled.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a capsule dispensing apparatus, as aforesaid, that conveniently dispenses capsules.
A further object of this invention is to provide a capsule dispensing apparatus, as aforesaid, that is sanitary.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a capsule dispensing apparatus, as aforesaid, that is not unduly complex.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention.